Smiles abound at the end of the long wait

AT five o'clock on Saturday morning a band of stewards met at London's Victoria coach station to accompany the nine coaches of England Members' Club fans on a day trip to Charleroi. If we expected rowdy chanting fans, the reality was quiet, alcohol free coaches. The atmosphere was subdued and apprehensive; there was no great optimism that England would overturn more than 30 years of history to beat Germany.

By Jenny Alexander

12:00AM BST 19 Jun 2000

AT five o'clock on Saturday morning a band of stewards met at London's Victoria coach station to accompany the nine coaches of England Members' Club fans on a day trip to Charleroi. If we expected rowdy chanting fans, the reality was quiet, alcohol free coaches. The atmosphere was subdued and apprehensive; there was no great optimism that England would overturn more than 30 years of history to beat Germany.

As we crossed the channel and headed down the motorway, reports of arrests in Brussels flooded in by mobile phone. But the coaches drew into side streets half a mile from the ground, we were struck by the surreal, quiet atmosphere. The hottest day of the year and there were almost no locals to be seen. In the England Members' tent we received reports of water cannons set off and arrests in the main square, 10 minutes away, but we heard nothing. Near the centre, English and German fans were mixing in bars and the atmosphere was friendly.

In the square, there was water everywhere and water cannons were positioned at all entrances. A small group of drunken England fans were chanting and dancing on tables, surrounded and outnumbered by Belgian police. But still no sign of serious trouble and the mood was festive.

If you didn't know there had been arrests in town, you wouldnt have guessed it outside the ground. In the two-hour lead-up to the match, a steady stream of fans equipped with banners and life-sized blow-up dolls entered peacefully and were searched by the Belgian stewards with no problems. As the crowd built to capacity at the official England end, the noise level rose. Familiar England chants of 'Ingerlund, Ingerlund, Ingerlund' drowned out the music blaring out over the Tannoy. The fans were getting ready to sing their hearts out for the team.

The German fans, outnumbered at least two to one and seemingly less committed than their English counterparts, were out-sung from the start. This was a chanting battle England were determined to win, whatever happened on the pitch.

The goal, when it came early in the second half, was sheer ecstasy. Elation spread through the England end. It seemed just recompense for years of disappointments and all the sweeter for the long wait. The coach on the way back was full of smiling, singing fans. There had been no arrests from our party. We had seen little trouble, and had caused none.

Jenny Alexander is writing a novel about a female Chelsea and England fan.